ASG passes Food Institute, livestream bills

During their most recent weekly session on Feb. 28, ASG Senate approved a senate resolution which creates a task force to act as a liaison between Dining Services and Miami University’s Institute for Food. The resolution was introduced in order to ensure that both the institute and dining services were on the same page concerning the sale and distribution of the Food Institute’s produce and to eliminate any miscommunication between the two organizations.

The Miami University Institute for Food is a “collaborative initiative to engage diverse communities around issues of food, health and sustainable agriculture,” according to their website. The institution runs and operates a 35-acre organic farm, less than a mile from campus. The Institute hopes to provide sustainable, organic food to Miami campus dining.

The next piece of legislation approved by the senate was a resolution supporting the inclusion of a presumption of innocence clause within the Student Code of Conduct. The resolution asserts that the Code of Conduct shall ensure “proper due process for all students” and all accused reporting to Student Court or OESCR are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The resolution’s authors noted that the legislation was the “beginning of a very long path seeing as there is no language in the Code concerning the topic.”

After debate, the body then voted to approve SR 021586, “Resolutions Addressing Textbook Affordability in the Ohio Governor’s Proposal.” The resolution approves the university’s Office of Institutional Relations to push state legislators for “affordable higher education in Ohio to better benefit students and public schools.”

The resolution opposes the Governor’s proposal that requires all students to pay up to $300 for the university to provide textbooks to students. Kirsten Fowler, deputy chief of staff for the Office of Institutional Relations, says the Governor’s plan “eliminates student choice — under this proposal you would get all of your textbooks from the university, without the option of searching Amazon or other cheaper options.”

“Given that the proposal includes a requirement that universities do not raise tuition for the next year, the universities have to find some other way to cover the cost of textbooks, which would mean cutting other student services and benefits,” said Fowler.

Introduced by Senators Kennick and Froehlich, the fourth piece of legislation for the night, SB 021585, initiates a new livestream video of ASG Senate meetings through Facebook. Approved by unanimous consent, the livestream is expected to “expose ASG to a larger audience” said Amy Berg, secretary of communications and media relations.

“Our meetings are already public, so this will expand our audience to let the masses know and understand what ASG is doing to improve your Miami experience,” said Berg.

Additionally, ASG approved it’s newest academic senator, Quentin McCorvey, who will be representing the College of Education, Health, and Society.